Editing Body modification (section)

{{short description|Consensual alteration of human anatomy}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2013}}
[[File:Scarification by Lestyn Flye.jpg|thumb|[[Scarification]] in progress]]
{{Body modification}}
'''Body modification''' (or '''body alteration''') is the deliberate altering of the [[human anatomy]] or [[human physical appearance]].<ref name="Thompson 2010">{{cite book | last1 = Thompson | first1 = Tim | last2 = Black | first2 = Sue | title = Forensic Human Identification: An Introduction | publisher = [[CRC Press]] | year = 2010 | pages = 379–398 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=2o6iyCnwmDEC | access-date = 25 February 2013 | isbn = 978-1420005714}}</ref> In its broadest [[definition]] it includes skin [[tattoo]]ing, socially acceptable decoration (''e.g.'', common [[earring|ear piercing]] in many societies), and religious [[rites of passage]] (e.g., [[circumcision]] in a number of cultures), as well as the [[modern primitive]] movement.

Body modification is performed for a large variety of reasons, including [[Aesthetic (meme)|aesthetic]]s, sexual enhancement, rites of passage, [[religious symbol|religious beliefs]], to display group membership or affiliation, in remembrance of lived experience, traditional symbolism such as [[axis mundi]] and [[mythology]], to create [[body art]], for [[shock value]], and as self-expression, among other reasons.<ref name="Thompson 2010" /><ref>{{cite web |date=16 May 1986 |title=What Is Body Modification? |url=http://www.essortment.com/all/whatisbodymod_pdv.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128093431/http://www.essortment.com/all/whatisbodymod_pdv.htm |archive-date=28 January 2016 |access-date=20 March 2015 |work=Essortment}}</ref>